1997 Indy Lights season

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The 1997 PPG/Firestone Indy Lights Championship Powered By Buick consisted of 13 races. Tony Kanaan edged out good friend and teammate Hélio Castro-Neves to the title by only four points.^[1]

Calendar[]

Race No	Track	State	Date	Laps	Distance	Time	Speed	Winner	Pole Position	Led the Most Laps	Fastest Race Lap
1	Homestead	Florida	March 2, 1997	50	2.4413081=122.065405 km	0'45:55.357	159.484 km/h	David Empringham	Hélio Castro-Neves	Mark Hotchkis	Mark Hotchkis
2	Long Beach	California	April 13, 1997	40	2.558787=102.35148 km	0'52:25.497	117.141 km/h	Hélio Castro-Neves	Hélio Castro-Neves	Hélio Castro-Neves	Cristiano da Matta
3	Nazareth	Pennsylvania	April 27, 1997	64	1.5223978=97.4334592 km	0'38:41.989	151.060 km/h	Cristiano da Matta	Chris Simmons	Chris Simmons
4	Savannah	Georgia	May 18, 1997	50	3.1606652=158.03326 km	1'10:52.676	133,779 km/h	Hélio Castro-Neves	Hélio Castro-Neves	Hélio Castro-Neves	?
5	Madison	Illinois	May 24, 1997	56	2.011625=112.651 km	0'58:33.865	115.412 km/h	Lee Bentham	Chris Simmons	Lee Bentham	Cristiano da Matta
6	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	June 1, 1997	90	1.6607976=149.471784 km	0'44:05.781	203.380 km/h	Clint Mears	Clint Mears	Clint Mears	Clint Mears
7	Detroit	Michigan	June 8, 1997	36	3.37953=121.66308 km	0'52:59.459	137.755 km/h	Tony Kanaan	Tony Kanaan	Tony Kanaan	Hélio Castro-Neves
8	Portland	Oregon	June 22, 1997	29	3.169=91.901 km	0'40:54.077	134.814 km/h	Hideki Noda	Hélio Castro-Neves	Hélio Castro-Neves	Oswaldo Negri, Jr.
9	Toronto	Canada	July 20, 1997	44	2.7696053=121.862633 km	0'57:23.659	127.395 km/h	Hélio Castro-Neves	Tony Kanaan	Hélio Castro-Neves	Christophe Tinseau
10	Trois-Rivières	Canada	August 3, 1997	50	2.4477453=122.387265 km	1'00:33.440	121.261 km/h	Tony Kanaan	Mark Hotchkis	Tony Kanaan	Mark Hotchkis
11	Vancouver	Canada	August 31, 1997	44	2.7406379=120.588068 km	0'56:39.358	122.957 km/h	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta	Hideki Noda
12	Monterey	California	September 7, 1997	25	3.6016134=90.040335 km	0'43:48.426	123.323 km/h	Cristiano da Matta	Tony Kanaan	Clint Mears	Cristiano da Matta
13	Fontana	California	September 27, 1997	50	3.2186=141.6184 km	0'52:15.813	162.582.130 km/h	Clint Mears	Clint Mears	Hélio Castro-Neves	Cristiano da Matta

Race summaries[]

Homestead race[]

Held March 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hélio Castro-Neves won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. David Empringham
2. Fredrik Larsson
3. Chris Simmons
4. Mark Hotchkis
5. Lee Bentham

Long Beach race[]

Held April 13 at Long Beach, California Street Course. Hélio Castro-Neves won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Hélio Castro-Neves
2. Cristiano da Matta
3. Mark Hotchkis
4. Chris Simmons
5. Tony Kanaan

Nazareth race[]

Held April 27 at Nazareth Speedway. Chris Simmons won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Cristiano da Matta
2. Chris Simmons
3. Fredrik Larsson
4. Hélio Castro-Neves
5. Tony Kanaan

Savannah race[]

Held May 18 on Hutchinson Island. Hélio Castro-Neves won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Hélio Castro-Neves
2. Sérgio Paese
3. Lee Bentham
4. Luiz Garcia, Jr.
5. Naoki Hattori

Gateway race[]

Held May 24 at Gateway International Raceway. Chris Simmons won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Lee Bentham
2. Cristiano da Matta
3. Hélio Castro-Neves
4. David Empringham
5. Chris Simmons

Milwaukee race[]

Held June 1 at The Milwaukee Mile. Clint Mears won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Clint Mears
2. David Empringham
3. Tony Kanaan
4. Cristiano da Matta
5. Fredrik Larsson

Detroit race[]

Held June 8 at Belle Isle Raceway. Tony Kanaan won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Tony Kanaan
2. Hélio Castro-Neves
3. Geoff Boss
4. David Empringham
5. Sérgio Paese

Portland race[]

Held June 22 at Portland International Raceway. Hélio Castro-Neves won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Hideki Noda
2. Hélio Castro-Neves
3. Tony Kanaan
5. Cristiano da Matta

Toronto race[]

Held July 20 at Exhibition Place. Tony Kanaan won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Hélio Castro-Neves
2. Tony Kanaan
3. David Empringham
4. Didier André

Trois-Rivières race[]

Held August 3 at the Trois-Rivières, Quebec Street Circuit. Mark Hotchkis won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Tony Kanaan
2. Mark Hotchkis
4. Cristiano da Matta
5. David Empringham

Vancouver race[]

Held August 31 at Pacific Place. Cristiano da Matta won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Cristiano da Matta
2. Tony Kanaan
3. Hideki Noda
4. Chris Simmons
5. David Empringham

Laguna Seca race[]

Held September 7 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Tony Kanaan won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Cristiano da Matta
2. Tony Kanaan
3. Hélio Castro-Neves
4. Mark Hotchkis
5. Lee Bentham

Fontana race[]

Held September 27 at The California Speedway. Clint Mears won the pole.

Top Five Results

1. Clint Mears
2. Chris Simmons
3. Lee Bentham
4. Cristiano da Matta
5. Hélio Castro-Neves

Final points standings[]

Driver[]

For every race the points were awarded: 20 points to the winner, 16 for runner-up, 14 for third place, 12 for fourth place, 10 for fifth place, 8 for sixth place, 6 seventh place, winding down to 1 points for 12th place. Additional points were awarded to the pole winner (1 point) and to the driver leading the most laps (1 point).

Place	Name	Country	Team	Total Points
1	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	Tasman Motorsports	156	8	10	10	-	3	14	22	14	17	21	16	17	4
2	Hélio Castro-Neves	Brazil	Tasman Motorsports	152	1	22	12	22	14	1	16	18	21	-	-	14	11
3	Cristiano da Matta	Brazil		141	-	16	20	-	16	12	-	10	-	12	22	21	12
4	David Empringham	Canada	Forsythe Racing	107	20	3	4	-	12	16	12	6	14	10	10	-	-
5	Chris Simmons	United States	Team Green	88	14	12	18	-	11	-	5	-	-	-	12	-	16
	Lee Bentham	Canada	Forsythe Racing	88	10	-	-	14	21	4	-	5	-	5	5	10	14
7	Mark Hotchkis	United States	Team Green	74	13	14	-	-	-	6	8	-	-	17	2	12	2
8	Clint Mears	United States		53	1	-	6	-	2	22	-	-	-	1	-	-	21
9	Hideki Noda	Japan	Indy Regency Racing	51	-	-	-	8	-	-	-	20	-	8	14	1	-
	Airton Daré	Brazil		51	2	8	5	5	8	2	-	-	4	4	6	2	5
11	Christophe Tinseau	France	Conquest Racing	49	-	-	-	1	1	-	2	12	10	14	-	8	1
12	Fredrik Larsson	Sweden		43	16	-	14	3	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	Luiz Garcia, Jr.	Brazil		38	-	-	-	12	-	-	4	8	-	-	8	3	3
14	Robby Unser	United States	PacWest Lights	35	5	6	3	-	6	8	1	-	6	-	-	-	-
	Didier André	France		35	-	5	-	4	-	-	-	-	12	6	3	5	-
16	Naoki Hattori	Japan	Team Green	32	-	-	-	10	-	-	6	-	8	-	-	-	8
17	Geoff Boss	United States		30	3	-	-	-	-	-	14	3	-	2	4	4	-
18	Sérgio Paese	Brazil		27	-	-	-	16	-	-	10	1	-	-	-	-	-
19		United States		17	-	1	8	-	5	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-
20	Oswaldo Negri, Jr.	Brazil	Genoa Racing	15	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	4	5	-	-	-	-
21	Jaques Lazier	United States		12	-	2	1	-	4	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
		United States		12	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
																6	-
23	Casey Mears	United States		9	4	-	-	-	-	3	-	2	-	-	-	-	-
24	Jeff Ward	United States		6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6
25	Shigeaki Hattori	Japan		5	-	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-
26		United States		4	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-
		France		4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	3	-	-	-
28		Canada		3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-
29	Chris Bingham	United States		2	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

Complete Overview[]

first column of every race

10

= grid position

second column of every race

10

= race result

R23=retired, but classified NS=did not start NQ=did not qualify

Place	Name	Country	Team
1	Tony Kanaan	Brazil	Tasman Motorsports	10	6	8	5	10	5	2	R23	5	10	5	3	1	1	4	3	1	2	3	1	6	2	1	2	3	9
2	Hélio Castro-Neves	Brazil	Tasman Motorsports	1	14	1	1	8	4	1	1	6	3	6	12	2	2	1	2	2	1	7	R20	3	R19	3	3	4	5
3	Cristiano da Matta	Brazil		9	21	3	2	3	1	19	R21	7	2	8	4	10	R26	8	5	3	R18	8	4	1	1	2	1	10	4
4	David Empringham	Canada	Forsythe Racing	5	1	2	10	25	9	6	R14	10	4	14	2	5	4	11	7	6	3	4	5	8	5	4	R26	2	R13
5	Chris Simmons	United States	Team Green	3	3	4	4	1	2	14	16	1	5	19	17	6	8	19	13	5	R21	2	15	4	4	8	R28	6	2
	Lee Bentham	Canada	Forsythe Racing	6	5	7	14	9	R22	10	3	4	1	17	9	16	22	9	8	13	R27	17	8	14	8	7	5	5	3
7	Mark Hotchkis	United States	Team Green	2	4	5	3	12	R23	11	17	2	R22	25	7	9	6	12	16	4	R17	1	2	5	11	5	4	11	11
8	Clint Mears	United States		18	12	27	18	5	7	25	R18	13	11	1	1	23	18	-	NS	26	13	22	12	28	14	26	NS	1	1
9	Hideki Noda	Japan	Indy Regency Racing	21	18	11	R19	22	16	7	6	19	16	12	14	22	14	2	1	8	R15	5	6	2	3	20	12	-	-
	Airton Daré	Brazil		13	11	18	6	11	8	12	8	8	6	2	11	15	13	15	20	19	9	14	9	17	7	24	11	12	8
11	Christophe Tinseau	France	Conquest Racing	15	R25	17	R26	15	14	9	12	11	12	20	21	12	11	5	4	12	5	6	3	7	R18	6	6	13	12
12	Fredrik Larsson	Sweden		8	2	16	R22	4	3	13	10	14	R24	16	5	4	R25	22	22	22	R28	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
13	Luiz Garcia, Jr.	Brazil		23	16	6	15	13	R24	3	4	18	17	21	19	11	9	3	6	17	R25	15	R23	9	6	12	10	16	10
14	Robby Unser	United States	PacWest Lights	14	8	15	7	21	10	18	R22	9	7	4	6	17	12	20	14	14	7	16	R19	18	R21	19	R22	19	R16
	Didier André	France		19	22	13	8	17	R25	5	9	16	20	24	18	19	21	6	R25	7	4	11	7	15	10	11	8	-	-
16	Naoki Hattori	Japan	Team Green	7	13	-	NS	18	15	15	5	17	14	18	13	7	7	13	R24	15	6	13	R24	10	R15	13	R20	9	6
17	Geoff Boss	United States		17	10	9	R24	20	17	20	R20	22	21	13	20	3	3	21	10	27	14	21	11	21	9	22	9	-	-
18	Sérgio Paese	Brazil		-	NS	22	R20	-	-	4	2	15	18	23	R24	8	5	7	12	9	R23	10	R25	20	R27	9	13	-	-
19		United States		4	17	20	12	2	6	26	NQ	3	8	2	R25	13	10	14	R26	16	R24	9	R26	11	R17	23	17	-	-
20	Oswaldo Negri, Jr.	Brazil	Genoa Racing	-	-	12	R27	-	-	17	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	10	9	20	8	25	R21	19	R20	17	R27	-	-
21	Jaques Lazier	United States		-	-	19	11	19	12	21	R24	23	9	7	8	20	23	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
		United States		11	7	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
																								23	R25	10	7	8	R14
23	Casey Mears	United States		12	9	23	17	24	13	24	13	24	13	10	10	21	25	23	11	21	R20	26	17	27	R16	29	19	15	R15
24	Jeff Ward	United States		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22	R22	27	15	17	7
25	Shigeaki Hattori	Japan		-	-	10	9	6	20	8	R15	12	R23	9	16	14	24	16	23	11	R26	12	14	12	12	18	14	18	R18
26		United States		25	R24	14	R21	-	-	16	11	20	19	3	R23	18	16	17	15	25	11	18	16	13	13	14	R21	7	R20
		France	Project Indy	-	-	-	NS	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
																				23	12	19	10	16	R24	15	R23	14	R19
28		Canada		22	R23	26	R23	-	-	-	-	-	-	11	15	24	17	18	17	10	10	24	13	26	R23	21	16	-	-
29	Chris Bingham	United States		20	15	25	13	14	11	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	26	21	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Rodolfo Lavín, Jr.	Mexico	Indy Regency Racing	16	20	21	16	16	R21	22	R25	21	15	15	22	25	19	24	19	24	R22	23	R22	24	R26	25	R25	20	R17
-	Eric Jensen	Canada		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	28	R16	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Claude Bourbonnais	Canada		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18	R19	20	18	25	R28	28	18	-	-
-	John Jones	Canada		24	19	24	R25	23	19	23	19	-	-	-	-	26	20	25	18	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Jean-Philippe Belloc	France		-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16	R24	-	-
-		Austria	Project Indy	-	NS	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-

References[]